So what was different aboutВ the вЂ™40s? For one thing, thatвЂ™s when the world heardВ вЂњWhite ChristmasвЂќ for the first time.В According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Bing CrosbyвЂ™s 1942 version of the songВ (written by Irving Berlin, who was Jewish) is the best-selling single in history.В In a departure from traditional carols, the lyrics areВ secular-like almost every song on this list, вЂњWhite ChristmasвЂќВ has about as much to do with Jesus as вЂњHappy BirthdayвЂќ-yet fundamentallyВ nostalgic,В which was presumablyВ a source of comfort to a nation in the midst of a horrible war. The вЂ™60s and вЂ™70s yielded just three per decade (though how exactly Donny HathawayвЂ™s вЂњ This ChristmasвЂќ made the list over John LennonвЂ™s 1971 classic вЂњ Happy Xmas (War Is Over)вЂќ is a tragic mystery).

But ASCAPвЂ™s century-spanning list containsВ only three songs from the вЂ™30s, and none from the вЂ™20s or вЂ™10s. The year 1958 saw three new standards emerge, the most iconicВ holiday songsВ to debut in any one year: вЂњJingle Bell Rock,вЂќ вЂњLittle Drummer BoyвЂќ and вЂњRockinвЂ™ Around the Christmas Tree.вЂќ And the youngest songs on the list are вЂњAll I Want for Christmas Is You,вЂќ which turns 20 this year, and вЂњLast Christmas,вЂќ a spry 30.Д«ut indisputably,В World War II and the immediate post-war years represented something of a golden age for Christmas music, with the 1940s and 1950s accounting forВ nearly two thirdsВ of ASCAPвЂ™s most popular songs.В This may seem trivial: The older a song is, the more opportunities time will have afforded it to be performed again and again.

The most popular song of all, 1934вЂ™s вЂњSanta Claus Is Coming to Town,вЂќ is tied with вЂњWinter WonderlandвЂќ for the listвЂ™s oldest.

Age of war music